New York - The English Premier League, along with independent music publisher Bourne Co., on Friday filed a federal class action copyright lawsuit in New York against Google's YouTube.

The Premier League, England's top tier soccer league, claims an estimated audience of 2.59 billion; Bourne Co. has published hits including "Let's Fall in Love" and "Smile."

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to prohibit YouTube from continuing to violate their copyrights, as well as unspecified damages for past violations.


"The $1.65 billion paid by Google to purchase YouTube in 2006, and the concomitant $4 billion increase in Google’s market capitalization, vastly understates both the value of the intellectual property rights of the Class that YouTube has misappropriated and the harm to the Class caused by Defendants' unlawful conduct," reads the complaint.

The law firms of Proskauer Rose and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann have set up a hotline for copyright owners who have had their works appear on YouTube without authorization, as well as a website at YouTubeClassAction.com.

YouTube is also dealing with a $1 billion copyright infringement suit brought by media conglomerate Viacom.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/322g6v

http://www.premierleague.com

http://www.bournemusic.com

http://www.youtubeclassaction.com